Shift Workers ----->

Mrs Seabiscuit

Mrs Seabiscuit

Mrs Seabiscuit

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Joined
21 Sep 2008
Posts
4,421
Location
somewhere out there!
I work shifts so an early is 7-3 and a late 13-21hrs An early for me suits me great as I eat normal times and have late afternoon evenings to do the normal routine.
Late shifts however are awful I find I cant settle in a morning and forget to eat properly and feel I come home and go more or less straight to bed!
So my question is:-
Do you work shifts, and wheat tends to be your routine for them?
Do you like them?
How do you fit your normal household routines around them?
Also how long have you done shift work?
 
thats pussy shift work.

my routine is sleep when tired, eat when hungry.

being able to still perform well at work on 2-4 hours sleep was a lesson that took time to learn to cope with.

household chores get done when i make time for them.

i like them, they give me opportunities to shop and use services during weekdays when everywhere is quiet. i work most weekends so it saves me money.

i have been doing shift work for 6 years.

my shifts can range from 9am - 5pm. 12am-8pm. 4-12. 7pm-3am. 9:40pm-5:40am.

i also get plenty of overtime which is normally 12am - 4am.
 
Shifts blow:
A normal day is 0730-1730 and a late is 1300-2230.
Working on a normal day I try to be in bed for 2300 so I can get a decent 6 hours sleep. When working a late I find I'm up from around 0730 anyways so by the time I get home I pretty much just go to bed.

Anything I need to do is just done when I get home or on a morning before I go into work on a late.

edit: Worked shifts for 7 years, not all as long as my current ones.
 
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i dont do shift work but do permanent night's.

been working night's for 15 years now (10pm to 6.30 am),cant see myself going back to working days to be honest,i have around 5 to 6 hours sleep and get to do a lot more working night's than i do working days.
 
I've been working nights (11pm-7am) for the past 18 months and I absolutely detest it. Whenever I have days off I can't adjust and still end up staying awake until 4-5am in the morning, it really is horrible, plus I always have that horrible feeling when setting off for work that everyone else has already finished for the day and instead of relaxing or going to sleep I'm off to work. :rolleyes:
 
Mrs Seabiscuit said:
Do you work shifts,
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My shifts are very similar to yours: 06:00-14:00 & 14:00-22:00.

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
What tends to be your routine for them?
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If I'm on earlies then I'm up at 04:00 and manage half an hour on the exercise bike. The early rise allows me plenty of time to shower and eat a light breakfast. I'll take my break at work at 11:00 and usually that's cereal and fruit. Main meal will be around 18:00ish and I'll be back in bed between 20:00 and 21:00. If I'm on back shift then I'll have my main meal around mid day, then about 19:00 at work I'll have more cereal. I tend not to eat after 20:00. Usually when I finish I cant go straight to bed so I'll stay up until at least mid night.

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
Do you like them?
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Not particularly no. Sometimes I wish for a Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00 and it's really annoying when you hear others say "Have a good weekend" :rolleyes:

On the plus side there's others at my work finishing at 22:00 on a Sat night and starting again at 06:00 on the Sun morning - so it could be a lot worse. On the whole it isn't that bad as my OH also works shifts (she's also a nurse) and the additional weekend premium pay rate also helps boost the take home money.

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
How do you fit your normal household routines around them?
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You mean things like washing, hoovering, shopping? (women's work :p) Usually that's done by either of us on our days off we don't have any particular rota for that it's a case of if it needs done we do it. Shopping can easily be done on line as well which helps a lot.

Mrs Seabiscuit said:
Also how long have you done shift work?
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About the last 20 years or so now working various different shifts - I cant see me ever fitting back into a regular 09:00-17:00 to be honest. I'm hoping to be reducing my hours within the next couple of years (when the mortgage is finished) and moving to part time but I'll still be working some sort of shift pattern.

Hope this helps?
 
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Mrs Seabiscuit said:
WHY YOU LITTLE :p:p:D:D
Well I am a nurse so there are only three shifts we can physically do as they are set (I cant work nights). Also Its very busy and at times stressful job, so erm I don't feel they are "pussy" shifts as you so meanly put it :D
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but they aren't very....well shifty. it's only a few hours different. just try to see it as a free time swap around, so the late shift, you get your day beforehand. and the early shift you get your free time after.

energy drinks are not the answer.
 
stuman said:
but they aren't very....well shifty. it's only a few hours different. just try to see it as a free time swap around, so the late shift, you get your day beforehand. and the early shift you get your free time after.

energy drinks are not the answer.
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ewwwww energy drinks are indeed not the answer lol :).
Earlies are more personal life friendly I don't think lates are at all. :D
 
12hr shifts starting at 0800 and 2000.

2 dayshifts, 2 nightshifts (sleep ~7hrs), 4 days off.

Effectively 6 days off in a row. It's a hard life.
 
My friend used to work 3 different shifts, morning shift 7am-3pm, next week afternoon shift 3pm-11pm, and then night shift 11pm-7am for few years rotating every week.

I don't think I could ever do such a thing.
 
I work 8 hour shifts 06:00-14:00, 22:00-06:00 and 14:00-22:00. Every other Sunday is 12 hours, 06:00-18:00 or 18:00-06:00. The early shift and night shift are each 7 days long, the middle shift is 3 days, rest day, 3 days.

As I get older I find I'm tolerating these shifts less and less. You feel you're always trying to catch up with yourself but not quite managing it.

I should point out that there is a long weekend off between the early and night shifts - Thursday to Monday inclusive - but it doesn't help :D
 
My wife works 8-6, but then does a couple of on calls every week on top of this, with usually a 24hr on call over the weekend. Not exactly shift work but she gets called in a lot !

Can make it quite difficult with our 9 month old son. And its not easy getting up at 6.30am when you have spent half the night at work.
 
Do shifts and not even fixed shifts like a lot of people.

From an eating perspective I find nightshirts are far better. Get up midday and watch TV for a few hours and relax, actually have a decent breakfast as Im not rushed so omelette, fish cakes what ever. Then have tea just before work, go to work, not eat anything, get home go straight to bed(well usually watch 1 recorded TV show) get up 12ish and repeat. Find nightshifts I have far more time to do everything. However no one else is about, so you can't realy socialize.

On day shifts, wake up about 10mins before I have to leave, skip breakfast, then evening eat myself stupid, go to bed stupidly late and wake up stupidly early. I need to feel very tiered to contemplate going to sleep. So yeah not a good pattern at all.

So yeah I prefer nightshifts, everything's so much more relaxed, can sleep as long as I want, no stupid alarms.

As with the poster above, what kills me is the change, especially when I do a Saturday night then start work 6am Monday morning. I usualy end up with about 1-2 hrs sleep Sunday night.
 
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